Hampshire’s Historic

Parks and Gardens

Caption One of County Council’s priorities is: Most are privately owned, and their owners take on ‘enhancing our quality of space. This priority is a significant responsibility in looking after these allIntroduction about making the county a good place to be assets for future generations. by protecting local distinctiveness and diversity, Designed for owners, managers, users and all ensuring excellent facilities, respecting Hampshire’s with an interest in Hampshire’s historic parks and heritage and planning proactively for the future’. gardens, this booklet: Hampshire has a wealth of historic parks and • introduces parks and gardens gardens that contribute greatly to the character, • recognises the importance of parks and gardens diversity and distinctiveness of its landscape. • demonstrates and explains how parks and Parks and gardens are very important parts of the gardens may best be protected and conserved landscape, recording cultural changes, social history • explains where to find more information and and attitudes to the natural environment. advice on conserving and managing parks and They are a key part of the county’s rich and gardens. varied heritage, and their care greatly enhances Hampshire’s landscape.

Introduction: Conserving Hampshire’s historic parks and gardens ContentsWhat are historic parks and gardens? Hampshire’s parks and gardens Research, conservation and management Information, advice and grant aid Crescent Gardens, Alverstoke. References

Front cover: Detail from Southwick Park. Drawn by Knyff and engraved by Kip (1708). The Beacon and walled garden, Staunton Country Park (Leigh Park). Back cover: Fan trained fruit trees, Houghton Lodge. The rose garden, Abbey. Tree fern, Holly Hill Woodland Park. Detail of Mr London’s design for the gardens at Herriard, May 22 1699. Hampshire Record Office 44M69/P1/61, Jervoise of Herriard Collection.

Highclere Castle from Beacon Hill.

2 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens Chawton House.

What are historic Dating from the medieval period to the present parksday, Hampshire’s and historic parks,gardens? gardens and other designed landscapes include: • ancient remains of medieval deer parks • earthworks as evidence of former parks and Walled Garden, Staunton Country Park. gardens • the landscapes of country houses, including parks, pleasure grounds, kitchen gardens and ornamental woodland • the designed gardens and grounds of houses • plant collections • public parks and open spaces • cemeteries and churchyards • designed landscapes forming Parkland, Chawton House. the grounds of institutional or business premises. The Royal Hospital, Haslar.

Durmast House, Burley.

Oram’s Arbour, Winchester. Aldershot Military Cemetery.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 3 View from the terrace Hinton Ampner, Bramdean.

Hampshire’s parks Deer parks Inand medieval gardens times, deer parks were large enclosed areas of land used mainly for keeping and hunting Earth bank remains of the Deer Park Pale, deer. They were quite densely wooded, with areas of Chawton Park Wood. wood pasture and more open areas referred to as Many deer parks are no longer obvious in the launds. They were surrounded by a large ditch and landscape but can be identified from remains of bank, topped with a fence known as a park pale. The the park pale, as at Hursley Park and Chawton right to enclose land and form a park was obtained Park Wood. Place names such as park, warren and only by the direct grant of a licence from the king. A lodge may also reflect their former use. Many of further privilege granted by the king was the right to Hampshire’s great parks started as medieval deer construct a deer leap. This was a lower section in the parks, for example Bramshill and Hackwood Parks, park pale that allowed deer to leap into the park but evolving into landscape parks. not out.

Fallow Deer in the .

4 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens Queen Eleanor’s Garden, Winchester.

Medieval to early eighteenth century gardens Gardens in the medieval period, developed from their monastic origins, were small and ornamental, enclosed within walls, with raised beds, arbours and a central pool and fountain. A garden of this period, Queen Eleanor’s Garden, has been recreated outside The Great Hall in Winchester. With the dissolution of the monasteries between 1536 and 1540, some monastic buildings and grounds were acquired to form large estates and redesigned as country houses and gardens, for example at Beaulieu, Mottisfont Abbey. Mottisfont, and Titchfield. Gardens of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries developed as expansive and elaborate layouts of walled enclosures, often with: • knot gardens (designed in a square frame and sown with aromatic plants and culinary herbs) • raised walks • small man-made hills known as mounts from which to view the surrounding countryside. There are few surviving features of these gardens in Hampshire, although they can sometimes be Parterre at Basing House. identified using archaeological evidence. Within the remaining walls of Basing House, one of the largest private houses in the country in the sixteenth century, a formal parterre has been recreated next to a pigeon-cote tower. Derived from the earlier knot gardens, the parterre is a flat-terrace garden with geometric patterns of flower beds and low The troco terrace, hedging. At Bramshill Park, some elements of the Bramshill Park. seventeenth-century garden survive, including the ‘Garden Ornament’ by troco terrace used for bowling (troco being an old Gertrude Jekyll and English game also known as lawn billiards). Christopher Hussey, Country Life (1927).

EARTH Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 5 Detail from Southwick Park. Drawn by Knyff and engraved by Kip (1708).

During the seventeenth century, gardens became larger and more formal, with terraces, parterres, avenues, canals and ornamental woodland known as wilderness reflecting the style of the Italian Renaissance, and the influence of French and Dutch ideas. There is some archaeological evidence of the formal gardens created in the seventeenth century, such as at Southwick Park. There, the layout of terraces can be identified in the undulating ground, now part of a golf course. A number of tree avenues – a feature of the Hampshire landscape – for example at Lainston House, Hale Park, Bramshill Park and Hackwood Park, originated in the designed Seventeenth century garden pavilion, The Vyne. landscapes of the seventeenth century and the start of the eighteenth. Their river-valley position made parks such as Hurstbourne and Warbrook well suited to the construction of formal canals in the French style early in the eighteenth century.

Caption The Lime avenue, Lainston House.

Warbrook House, Eversley.

6 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens The Temple or Rotunda, Highclere Park.

The English Landscape style During the eighteenth century, the formal French style gave way to the more natural English Landscape style, which idealised nature and emphasised irregularity, with no obvious walls or boundaries. It included classical sculpture, antiquities and landscapes inspired by the Grand Tour of Europe (a long voyage, popular among rich young men, to learn about European cultural artefacts and society). The siting and construction of the Temple or Rotunda (circular building) in Highclere Park is a good example. Another feature that developed during this period was the ha-ha, a sunken fence or concealed ditch creating the impression that the grass sward (expanse) of the garden was seamlessly joined to the surrounding landscape, grazed by animals. Probably one of the first ha-has in Hampshire was designed by Charles Bridgeman at Westbury House, East Meon in the 1720s. There is another at The Wakes, Selborne, home of the naturalist Gilbert White.

The ha-ha at The Wakes, Selborne.

Detail from a plan for the design of Old Shrubberies being replanted in the Pleasure Grounds of Old Alresford Alresford Park by Richard Woods, 1764 . Park, following the original design by Richard Woods. Courtesy of Mike Hall.

Left: Sales Map for Lady Mildmay of Shawford Park,1811, showing a formal canal probably dating from about 1690-1720. Hampshire Record Office 46M72/E38.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 7 Extract from first edition six inch Ordnance Survey map, 1873.

The majority of parks in Hampshire are characteristic of the English Landscape style of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They are informal parklands of grazed permanent pasture, with single trees and clumps of trees, irregularly planted. They often have serpentine (curvaceous) lakes and water features, and are enclosed by woodland belts. They were designed to be appreciated through carefully composed views from the house, garden, approach, and walks and rides through the park. One proponent of the Landscape style was Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (1715–83), who was involved in designing a number of estates such as at Highclere Park, Broadlands, Cadland House and North Stoneham. William Emes, who worked in a similar style to Brown, lived for a while at Elvetham and is said to have done work at Dogmersfield Park. Another follower of Brown, Richard Woods, prepared a landscape design for Old Alresford Park in 1764. This was only partly implemented and the current owners are now using the design to restore the parkland. A feature of some parks is the widening of rivers to create the appearance of a large river or lake. Brown widened the Test at Broadlands, Lord Rivers gave the Loddon the dimensions of a fine river at Stratfield Plan showing a series of views in relation to the house Saye, and the river was dammed at The Grange in and planting. Based on an illustration in ‘How to layout Northington to create two lakes. Many Hampshire a garden’ by Edward Kemp (1858). parks and gardens, including Cadland House and Pylewell Park, exploit coastal views, particularly towards the Isle of Wight.

Dogmersfield Park. Engraving by J Landseer from drawing by W S Gilpin, published for the Rev. Bingley 4 June 1808. Hampshire Record Office Top 92/2/4 (L). Old Alresford Park.

8 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens Detail from Chawton House by G.F Prosser, 1834. Courtesy of R J Smith & Co. Title page of ‘Remarks on Forest The Picturesque style Picturesque improvements were often extended to Scenery and Other the whole estate, including lodges, farm buildings Woodland Views’ by A prominent successor to Capability Brown was and estate cottages. At Rotherfield Park, part of the William Gilpin, 1791. Humphry Repton, who published a number of books village of East Tisted was demolished and rebuilt in a and articles on landscape design. During his career, Picturesque style on the east side of the road. A fine he developed his designs to fit the Picturesque style. example of a Picturesque cottage orné (ornamental Popular at the end of the eighteenth century, this cottage) is Houghton Lodge, which was built before style was advocated by William Gilpin, who lived 1800, probably as a rural retreat and fishing lodge, at Boldre in the New Forest. Dramatic scenery, with extensive views of the . contrasts of texture and vegetation, and a sense of wildness in the trees and shrubs characterise this style in gardens. Repton presented his designs in a series of Red Books that illustrated before-and-after views of the landscape. Repton is known to have been involved at Stratton Park and Herriard Park, although his Red Book proposal to move the site of the house at Stratton Park was never carried out. The Picturesque style permeated English society and culture. Jane Austen, who lived in Hampshire, refers in her novels to improvements to parkland landscapes, and to Repton himself: ‘There have been two or three fine old trees cut down that grew too near the house, and it opens up the prospect amazingly, which makes me think that Repton, or anybody of that sort, would have the avenue down…’ (Mr Rushworth in Mansfield Park). Jane Austen’s brother, Edward Knight, improved the park and gardens at Chawton House in a Picturesque style, using trees to frame the view and to display the house in its best setting. Other landowners also adopted this style. Picturesque parks and gardens, often overlaying older parks, remain a distinctive element of Hampshire’s landscape. Houghton Lodge.

Picturesque Cottages, View of the River Test, Houghton Lodge. East Tisted.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 9 Royal Victoria Country Park.

The Gardenesque style There was also a revival of formal elements in garden and park design, with avenues once again becoming In the nineteenth century large houses and villa popular. landscapes were developed, often for high-ranking During the nineteenth century, Hampshire gardens navy and army officers or ex-colonials retiring to the earned a reputation for establishing and breeding area. Many of these properties had coastal views exotic species. When he retired from the East and there was a particular concentration in Hythe India Company in 1820, Sir George Staunton – a and Dibden, with views over Water. knowledgeable botanist and friend of Sir Joseph Improved transport links, following the construction Hooker, the first director of Kew Gardens – bought of the railways, led to villas being developed on the Leigh Park and went on to collect a wide range of coast and in the countryside as weekend and holiday plants, including many from China and America. retreats. He cultivated exotic plants, including pineapple, Rhinefield As a result of travel and exploration, an increasing under glass in his walled garden, and built an Ornamental Drive. number of new plants was introduced from Asia and octagonal extension to his main glasshouse to grow the Americas during the eighteenth and the giant water lily, Victoria amazonica. The second nineteenth centuries. This led to more Earl of Carnarvon, after inheriting Highclere in 1811, exotic species being planted in parks and similarly established a wide range of exotic trees pleasure grounds, and arboretums being and shrubs, creating the rhododendron and azalea developed. At Stratfield Saye, Lord Rivers gardens, and propagating well-known hybrids such planted a range of exotic species. The as Rhododendron altarclerense. Duke of Wellington continued this when The demand for exotic plants, trees and shrubs he acquired the estate in 1817, notably The Wellingtonia led to an increase in nursery businesses such as planting the Wellingtonia tree (Sequoiadendron avenue, Elvetham that of William Bridgewater Page, based at the giganteum) in 1854, following its introduction Hall. Southampton Botanic Gardens. Page wasn’t only to in 1853. Other nineteenth-century a nurseryman; he was also involved in design and arboretums and pinetums (arboretums specialising planting, for example at the Royal Victoria Military in growing conifers) include Brockwood Park, Hospital at Netley (now Royal Victoria Country Heckfield Place, Red Rice (Farleigh School) and the Park). Dean Thomas Garnier also commissioned Rhinefield Ornamental Drive. him to design a conservatory for the vicarage at The Gardenesque style celebrated the skills of Bishopstoke, where Garnier established a notable horticulture, in contrast to the Picturesque. JC collection of plants and trees. Loudon, the garden designer and prolific writer on gardening, proposed the term Gardenesque. He used it to describe a style of planting design in which each individual plant was allowed to develop its natural character. This led to: • the contents of the garden and individual plants being considered to be as important as the design • an eclectic style of garden layout, typical of Victorian gardens.

The giant water lily, Victoria amazonica, at Staunton Country Park (Leigh Park).

10 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens Marsh Court, the sunken garden. 'Garden Ornament' by Gertrude Jekyll and Christopher Hussey (Country Life 1927).

The Arts and Crafts style In the late nineteenth century, architects began to take more interest in garden design. Sir Reginald Blomfield, designer of Moundsmere Manor, advocated the formal garden with hard landscape and architectural features in his book 'The Formal Garden' (1898). The Arts and Crafts style embodied the unity of the house, the interior and the garden, with the garden being treated as a series of rooms. There were several proponents of this style including Edwin Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll, Thomas Mawson and Inigo Triggs. Examples of their work can be found across Hampshire. House, Berrydown Court, Daneshill and Marsh Court are all Lutyens-Jekyll collaborations. Mawson, who worked with Jekyll at New Place, was also involved at Walhampton House. Triggs designed several gardens in , including his own house, Little Boarhunt, at Liphook. Jekyll, an influential garden writer known for her mixed-flower borders, was consulted for advice on planting by many Arts and Crafts architects. There The Manor House, Upton Grey. are records of her being involved in the design of some 30 gardens in Hampshire, including The Manor House at Upton Grey, and Durmast House in Burley. Both have been restored using her original planting plans.

Original Plan of the garden at Bramshott Rectory by Inigo Triggs, September 1912. Little Boarhunt, Liphook. Hampshire Record Office 57M75/PB29.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 11 Mottisfont Abbey, the pleached lime avenue.

Twentieth-century gardens A number of gardens have been created or altered during the twentieth century, including Mottisfont Abbey, where: • Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe designed a formal garden on the north side of the house in 1936–7, including an avenue of pleached limes (in which the branches are trained and pruned to form a hedge on legs) • Norah Lindsay designed a box parterre on the site of the cloister in 1938. The property was conveyed to the National Trust in 1957; and in 1972, their garden advisor, Graham Stuart Thomas, designed a rose garden within the former walled kitchen garden. Ralph Dutton, the eighth Lord Sherborne, created a garden combining formal design and informal planting when he lived at Hinton Ampner between 1935 and 1985. In 1973, Lanning Roper began a nine-year dialogue with Sonia Cubitt, advising on her garden at Hall Place, West Meon. Another commission for Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe in 1975 was to prepare plans for Lake House, Northington. These included a cascade, a bridge leading to a seat on the island in the lake with views to The Grange, Mottisfont Abbey, the rose garden. and designs for the walled garden.

Hinton Ampner. Mottisfont Abbey, the rose garden. Photo National Trust.

12 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens Jermyns House, the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens.

Gardeners and their gardens Hampshire has nurtured some important botanists and gardeners. In the seventeenth century, John Worlidge, the noted horticulturist, and John Goodyer, the distinguished botanist, both lived at Petersfield. Stephen Switzer was born in East Stratton in 1682 and gained experience at Stratton Park as a gardener for the Duke of Bedford before working at the famous Brompton Park nurseries of London and Wise. He became an important writer and garden designer, publishing 'Ichnographia Rustica' in 1718. William Curtis was born in Alton in 1746 and, after practising as an apothecary, established a botanical garden in London in 1771 and published 'The Botanical Magazine' from 1787 until his death in 1799. In the nineteenth century, William Wildsmith was employed at Heckfield Place and trained gardeners who in turn became head gardeners on other estates in the county. Lionel de Rothschild developed the gardens of Exbury House between 1919 and his death in 1942. During this period, he was responsible for crossbreeding 1,210 rhododendron hybrids, of which 452 were registered with the Royal Horticultural Society. Sir Harold Hillier created a unique collection of 42,000 plants around his home, Jermyns House, which he acquired in 1953. Hampshire County Council now manages his arboretum and garden as a charitable trust.

The beds of sub-tropical planting at Heckfield Place. ‘The Century Book of Gardening', Country Life (1903). Prints from William Curtis’ ‘Botanical Magazine’, 1787.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 13 Abbey Gardens, Winchester.

Public parks This may be due to the absence of large nineteenth- century manufacturing towns and heavy industry, Public parks and gardens are important designed as parks were often established in response to the landscapes in Hampshire’s urban areas, with most problems of industrialisation and rapid population towns having a public park or garden providing growth. a recreational green space. Some public parks Staunton Country Park and Royal Victoria Country originated in country-house or villa landscapes, such Park are both on English Heritage’s Register of as: Parks and Gardens of special historic interest. The • War Memorial Park, Basingstoke Hampshire Gardens Trust researched a number • Aldershot Manor Park of public parks with an interesting history for the • Holly Hill Woodland Park, 'Hampshire Urban Parks Study' in 1996. • Stanley Park, . Holly Hill Woodland Many public parks were planned in the late Park, Fareham. nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as civic amenities. They probably reflect the resources available: although they may have recreational facilities, ornamental beds and sometimes a bandstand, there are few parks designed in the grand style of the nineteenth-century public parks Memorial Park, found in other parts of the country. . Stanley Park, Gosport.

Staunton Country Park.

14 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens The Canadian Military Cemetery, St Mary’s Church, Bramshott.

Cemeteries Cemeteries are unique and distinctive designed landscapes, with their often formal layout of roads, paths, chapels, lodges, boundary walls and monuments, and characteristic planting. They also provide valuable green spaces within built-up areas. Appreciation of the importance of cemeteries as historic designed landscapes has been growing, and English Heritage has added a number to their Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest, including Aldershot Military Cemetery and Magdalen Hill Cemetery, Winchester. Others of interest in the county include South View Cemetery, Basingstoke, and Romsey Cemetery. In St Mary’s Church Cemetery, Bramshott, a Canadian military cemetery is laid out to a design by Inigo Triggs. Gertrude Jekyll prepared planting plans for Winchester College’s war memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker in 1924.

Romsey Cemetery.

Aldershot Military Cemetery. White Moor Cemetery, Lyndhurst.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 15 Winchester College.

Institutional landscapes Institutions such as schools and hospitals often have designed grounds and gardens that provide a setting for the buildings and an outdoor space for rest and recreation. These can date to medieval times, for example there is a series of accounts for Winchester College between 1394 and 1437 in which some entries relate to the gardens. Henry Khyght spent six months of 1398 surveying the new garden and supervising the workmen. Many schools in Hampshire continue to be the custodians of important parks and gardens. Several purpose-built hospital sites in the county The Royal Hospital, Haslar. have planted grounds, airing courts (walled enclosures for the patients to exercise), kitchen gardens and, in some cases, a sea view or parkland setting. The Royal Hospital, Haslar and the Royal Victoria Military Hospital (now Royal Victoria Country Park), are both on English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest.

The Royal Victoria Military Hospital before demolition.

Hordle Walhampton School, Lymington.

16 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens Restoration of garden walls, Chawton House.

is particularly rich in the designed landscapes of parks and gardens, and the built and natural features they contain: the greatest of these are as important to national, and indeed international, culture as are our greatest buildings.’ (Planning Policy Guidance note 15, Planning and the Historic Environment, September Research, 1994). What are the benefits of recording The Gazebo conservation and historic parks and gardens? Garden, Havant. The benefits of recording historic parks and gardens are management to: What makes a park or garden • identify features that are rare, vulnerable or historically interesting? distinctive, and to inform decisions on policies to protect, conserve and manage them, and maintain Parks and gardens are of historic interest when they: local character and distinctiveness • illustrate an aspect of the history of parks, gardens • inform the understanding and presentation of the and landscape design, for instance they represent historic landscape the work of a particular designer or were created in • promote interest, appreciation and participation, The serpentine a particular period or style encouraging sites to be used for education, or crinkle-crankle • contain historic features that are of archaeological, recreation and tourism where appropriate wall at Staunton architectural, artistic, horticultural, cultural or social • be aware, from studying historic working practices, Country Park. interest of the practicalities and technology involved in • have significant historic associations, for example establishing and maintaining historic landscapes with a particular person or event • inform accurate restoration, conservation and • are part of a group of buildings or land of historic management interest or significance and provide the setting for • raise awareness and understanding of the work of important buildings particular designers • retain features that represent a rich tapestry of • identify the significance of memories and values historical changes and landscape development. associated with a site or area.

Why are historic parks and gardens important? • They are important local amenities, contributing to the character and landscape of the area. • They are individual and specific to a locality, being associated with local people and local history. • They are aesthetically pleasing, are valuable as places to enjoy in sensory ways, and hold great natural resources and habitats. • They may contain historic features that are special, rare or of local interest. • They may be open to the public, or can be seen from public roads and footpaths. Interpretation board at Avenue Park, North Stoneham. The importance of historic parks and gardens is reflected in government guidance on planning: ‘England

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 17 English Heritage Registered Historic Parks and Gardens in Hampshire

1 Aldershot Military 38 Old Alresford House Cemetery 39 Pylewell Park 2 Amport Park 40 Rhinefield A339 46 56 Burghclere 23 A327 A30 3 Avington Park 41 Rotherfield Park 25 A340 8 A33 35 A343 M3 51 A30 18 4 Danes 42 Royal Victoria Hook A339 54 A34 RUSHMOOR 5 Avon Tyrrell Country Park A30 BASINGSTOKE & DEANE M3 Fleet A323 A331 6 A323 6 Basing House 43 Sir Harold Hillier Basingstoke M3 17 Aldershot 1 21 7 Bramdean House Gardens A342 30 49 HART 27 Whitchurch A30 8 Bramshill Park 44 Southampton A339 24 A338 A303 Andover M3 9 Breamore Cemetery A31 2 A303 37 A325 10 Broadlands 45 Southsea Common A343 A3057 A339 47 Alton 11 Brockenhurst Park 46 Stratfield Saye Park A30 12 Cadland House 47 Stratton Park A343 A33 A272 48 14 A31 A30 13 Central Parks 48 The Grange, A34 New Alresford 34 M3 38 52 A3 26 A325 14 Chawton House Northington 41 29 3 A31 32 A31 15 Compton End 49 The Manor House, Winchester 33 A32 A3057 A3090 A272 7 EAST HAMPSHIRE A3 16 Cranbury Park Upton Grey 36 A272 15 A272 17 Dogmersfield Park A32 43 M3 A27 4 16 WINCHESTER Petersfield 18 Elvetham Hall Romsey 57 19 19 Embley Park 10 Eastleigh 9 22 Bishop’s Waltham A338 A36 20 Exbury House M27 M27 A3 Fordingbridge M27 M271 21 Hackwood Park Southampton 53A27 Totton 44 A32 A32 22 Hale Park NEW FOREST 13 A3024 A3051 23 Heckfield Place A337 A3051 A35 M27 M27 A3(M) 31 M27 A338 A31 A27 24 Herriard Park Lyndhurst A326 42 Havant A27 A27 M27 A27 25 Highclere Park Fareham

40 A3023 26 Houghton Lodge 11 A32 A35 Gosport 28 27 Hurstbourne Park 5 20 12 55 A288 28 Kingston Cemetery 50 45 29 Lainston House New Milton 39 A337 30 Laverstoke Park 50 The Royal Hospital, 31 Leigh Park (Staunton Haslar Country Park) 51 The Vyne 32 Little Boarhunt 52 The Wakes ISLE OF WIGHT 33 Magdalen Hill 53 Townhill Park Map showing sites on the English Cemetery 54 Tylney Hall Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest. 34 Marsh Court 55 Victoria Park Note that inclusion on the Register 35 Minley Manor 56 Warbrook House does not imply that the garden is 36 Mottisfont Abbey 57 Warnford Park open to the public. 37 Moundsmere Manor

What threatens the future of historic engineering and security requirements parks and gardens? • they are split and sold to multiple owners, resulting in new boundaries, land use and planting that ignore the Parks and gardens are vulnerable if: overall design • their historic significance hasn’t been recognised • buildings and other structures and features are allowed • there is a lack of funding to manage and maintain to deteriorate because they are considered to have no them beneficial use, aren’t recognised as valuable, or there • the land is at risk of infill development is no funding to repair and maintain them • poorly-sited or unsympathetic developments are built, • crops are grown on the land, affecting parkland even outside the site, affecting views and the setting landscapes, trees and surviving archaeology • there is pressure for major development, such as for • lakes and water features are neglected and silt up new housing and mining • working practices change and skilled workers are lost. • their character and features are eroded due to changes in use of the site or the need to meet planning,

18 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens How are historic parks and gardens The Garden History Society encourages local planning protected? authorities to: • write comprehensive policies for conserving historic Over the last 20 years, awareness has increased that parks and gardens historic parks and gardens are important and contribute • protect registered sites, and their settings, views and to the local character and amenity of an area. A growing features, as well as other sites that contribute to the policy and legislative framework now protects historic regional or local environment and heritage parks and gardens, and is summarised in the rest of this • set up a local list in the local development document, section. but because this is a new subject and knowledge is incomplete, to add further sites to the list as they English Heritage register become known. In Hampshire, five district councils In 1984, English Heritage set up a national record of have included local lists in their local plans: Fareham, historic parks and gardens, known as the Register of Gosport, Hart, Havant and New Forest. Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. The heritage protection white paper recognises the English Heritage maintains this national register, which essential role of local authorities in designating historic now includes around 1,600 sites, divided into three sites: ‘Local designation provides a means for local grades: communities to identify and to protect the buildings, • I – international importance sites, and spaces that matter to them. It helps to build • II* – exceptional interest a sense of local identity and distinctiveness, a sense of • II – national interest. history, place and belonging.’ The white paper wants to While being on the register gives a site no extra legal encourage more authorities to do this. protection, local planning authorities must take this into account when deciding about planning applications that would affect a registered site. Central government requires that ‘local planning authorities should protect registered parks and gardens in preparing development plans and in determining planning applications’ (Planning Policy Guidance note 15, paragraph 2.24). To ensure that local planning authorities have access to the appropriate advice, they must consult the Garden History Society on all applications affecting registered sites, plus English Heritage on those affecting a grade Perhaps Hampshire’s only surviving example I or II* registered site. The register includes 57 sites of artificial stone called ‘Pulhamite’, Holly Hill in Hampshire – just under 5% of the nation’s most Woodland Park. significant historic parks and gardens. Two of these, The Hampshire Register of Historic Parks Hackwood Park and Highclere Park, are Grade I. and Gardens Heritage protection white paper This database of sites of interest in Hampshire is based 'Heritage Protection for the 21st Century', a white paper on surveys, research and recording done since 1981. The published by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport Hampshire Register covers over 900 sites, including all in March 2007, recommends introducing: those that are now lost or of which little remains. There • a Register of Historic Buildings and Sites of England, is full information for some sites, and little more than a as a single national register of historic assets site name and location for others. Research continues, • management agreements – ‘Heritage Partnership much by the Hampshire Gardens Trust, and records are Agreements’ – for large complex sites. continually being added to the database. You can get information on historic parks and gardens Draft South East Plan from: The draft South East Plan refers to historic parks • our Environment Department, Landscape Planning and gardens. Its draft policy BE7 requires that local and Heritage Group, website http://www3.hants.gov. authorities state how they will manage the historic uk/landscape-and-heritage/historic-environment/ environment in their local development frameworks. parks-gardens.htm • the Hampshire Gardens Trust in http://www. Sites of local importance hgt.org.uk/index.html • the Archaeology and Historic Buildings record Local authorities usually include policies in their local (AHBR), website http://www3.hants.gov.uk/landscape- plans and development frameworks to help safeguard and-heritage/historic-environment/historic-buildings- historic parks and gardens. register.htm.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 19 Listed buildings The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 controls work on listed buildings. Planning Policy Guidance note 15 advises local planning authorities on how to apply this law. Most parks and gardens associated with a listed building have some protection through the law on preserving Cams Hall, Fareham. listed buildings, since it covers: Conservation areas • the setting and curtilage (land, including boundary walls) Conservation areas are places of special architectural • any object or structure fixed to the building or historic interest, with a character or appearance • any separate supporting structure within the that we wish to preserve or enhance. Whilst usually curtilage, constructed before 1948. associated with buildings, conservation area status Sites are sometimes listed could be considered the single most effective way to inconsistently and important features protect historic parks and gardens from inappropriate – for example kitchen gardens, development. The requirement that new development greenhouses, bothies (garden should preserve or enhance the character or appearance workers’ huts), and other structures of the conservation area significantly influences planning such as steps, paths, walls and proposals for gardens within such areas. statues – may not be individually Anyone proposing to cut down or work on a tree in a listed and so may be neglected or conservation area must give the local planning authority even removed. notice, so they can consider whether to make a Tree Preservation Order. This helps: Enabling development • prevent trees being inappropriately managed within parks and gardens in conservation areas English Heritage has become increasingly concerned by • establish new planting, as the landowner is expected the loss of, and damage to, historic parks and gardens to plant a replacement tree. caused by developments proposed for the repair and Planning Policy Guidance note 15 (paragraph 4.6), maintenance of associated historic assets. As a result, referring to conservation areas, states: ‘Designation may in June 1999, they issued a policy statement, 'Enabling well, however, be suitable for historic parks and other Development and the Conservation of Historic Assets'. areas of historic landscape containing structures that This sets out stringent tests that may help defend historic contribute to their special interest....’ parks and gardens from inappropriate development. There are examples of conservation areas created for a Another publication, 'Rescued or Ruined? Dealing with specific historic house, park, garden or landscape, such Enabling Development', was produced by a number of as at Cams Hall, Fareham. societies in 1999.

Tree Preservation Orders Boundaries and settings Tree Preservation Sites on the English Heritage Orders (TPOs) are Register have a designated a common device boundary. But the boundaries of to protect parks other sites may not have been and gardens. As delineated, although they are a precautionary usually evident from changes measure, they in character, walls, planting or could be applied the extent of parkland, as shown to registered on the historic 6-inch Ordnance and local sites of Survey maps. Other features interest not covered such as walled gardens, woodland by a conservation area. The historic significance of the walks, designed belts and clumps of trees can also be site and its contribution to the character of the local identified on historic maps. Field names and land use, as landscape character may be used to support the creation shown on tithe (old tax) maps and sales particulars, can of a TPO. TPOs alone rarely provide adequate protection also guide us on the area the designed landscape used as they apply only to the trees and not to the wider to cover. designed landscape, which remains unprotected from The current boundary should usually follow that of the development. This can result in intensive development historic landscape. However, in some cases it may that retains the mature trees but destroys the garden be appropriate to draw a smaller boundary, taking spaces, landscape design and setting. TPOs may also account of new development or redevelopment that has prevent original views and designed spaces being encroached on the original park or garden. restored or recreated. The setting – the land outside the site boundary – can also be very important, particularly if the historic estate extended beyond the park or garden boundary.

20 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens Views of the wider landscape, such as unspoilt farmland, This is best addressed by preparing a landscape a hill, a river or coastal scenery, may have been conservation and management plan, based on site significant to the site; or particular features, such as a surveys, historical research and an understanding of church spire or a designed eye catcher or folly, may have current management practice. been the focus of the framed view from the site. Because social status may have been judged by the extent of the Why do site surveys and historical research? park, views of the surrounding landscape may have been Historical research is fundamental to establishing and borrowed or ornaments added, to give the impression understanding the development of any site. It has a wide that the park was larger or that its owner owned the range of practical uses, such as helping us to: landscape too. • understand the history and development of the park or garden, and see how the organisation and management of the landscape has changed over time • raise awareness, and show the historical importance of the site and its association with people and events • identify significant and sensitive features, such as ground archaeology, views and the wider setting • record the condition, and the need for repair and conservation • decide how best to manage the site and help us draw up accurate proposals to plant and restore the site • identify appropriate areas for change • collect an archive of historical information and stories about the site • recognise links with other sites through past owners The Walled Garden, Staunton Country Park. and connections (such as with plant collectors and Are sites on the registers open to the families) public? • identify where further survey and research may be helpful. Most sites on the English Heritage and Hampshire Any form of intervention will change a site; it is vital that Registers are privately owned and aren’t open to the before any work is done, we understand both the original public unless advertised as such. The privacy of owners design and the way it may have evolved. should be respected. What are the benefits of a conservation and management plan? A conservation and management plan: • puts together the history of a site, and relates this to the present-day landscape • reveals and explains the designed features and essential characteristics of a site Illustration • identifies clear conservation objectives – both for the of a Stove or overall site and for individual areas and features hot house. • addresses any potential conflicts, say in using the The Universal land, or between managing the historic landscape Gardener and Managing historic parks and gardens and conserving nature, and recommends how they Botanist by Historic parks and gardens often have special, multi- can be resolved faceted characters, representing a complex mixture • guides us on caring for, conserving and managing Thomas Mawe of overlapping features, events, and design objectives the landscape in the long term and John developed over time. They are dynamic environments that • identifies areas or features of particular sensitivity or Abercrombie, grow and change; if humans don’t continue to design, significance (1797). manage and maintain them, then nature will take over. To • pinpoints and prioritises where repair and manage the historic landscape effectively and so ensure conservation are needed its character survives and evolves satisfactorily, we must: • safeguards the future of the site and helps us make • understand and record what is there decisions about it • identify what is significant, valuable and particularly • can help us apply for grant aid and raise funds. sensitive • pinpoint areas needing repair • recognise those areas that are vulnerable and those which change won’t damage • develop a long-term strategy for repairing, conserving and managing the landscape.

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 21 Website: www.gardenhistorysociety.org/ (for Planning Conservation Advice Notes, go to www.gardenhistorysociety.org/whatwedo/conservation. html#pcn)

Hampshire County Council Information, advice Our Environment Department, Landscape Planning and You can get advice on conserving and managing historic Heritage Group can provide general advice and information andparks and gardens,grant and on possibleaid sources of funding, about sites on the English Heritage Register, Hampshire from the organisations listed below. Register, and Archaeology and Historic Buildings Record. E-mail: [email protected] Department of Culture, Media and Sport Website: www3.hants.gov.uk/landscape-and-heritage.htm This is the government department responsible for identifying and conserving the historic environment in Hampshire Gardens Trust England. This trust has a research group that researches and surveys Website: www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Historic_ historic parks and gardens. It also provides specialist advice environment/ and support through its conservation committee, which sometimes offers small grants. District councils Hampshire Gardens Trust, Jermyn’s house, Jermyns Lane, Most district councils have landscape, conservation and Ampfield, Romsey SO51 0QA tree officers who may be able to give general advice on Tel: 01794 367752 conserving and managing historic parks and gardens, and Website: www.hgt.org.uk/ on any available grants. Historic Environment Local Management English Heritage (HELM) The National Monuments Records centre can provide HELM is a partnership project led by English Heritage. It entries and maps for sites on the English Heritage register. aims to share best practice, and build the confidence of Tel: 01793 414600 those dealing with the historic environment, by providing E-mail: [email protected] information and training. You can download a lot of useful Further information on the Register is available on the publications from their website. webpage: Website: www.helm.org.uk/ www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1410 The regional office can advise on conserving parks and Natural England gardens on the register, and may be able to offer grants for Rural development advisers can advise about grants repairing grade I and II* sites. for managing environmental land, including the Higher South East Region Eastgate Court, 195-205 High Street, Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme for conserving historic Guildford GU1 3EH parklands and their features. Tel: 01483 252000 Natural England, Customer Support Unit, PO Box 2423 Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk/ Reading, RG1 6WY Forestry Commission Tel: 0845 6024092 E-mail: [email protected] The Forestry Commission may be able to advise on, and Website: www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/schemes/es/default.htm give grants for, woodlands and shelterbelts within historic parks and gardens. The Heritage Lottery Fund Conservancy This fund may provide funding to help restore, regenerate Alice Holt, Wrecclesham, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 4LF and improve access to historic parks, gardens and green Tel: 01420 23337 spaces. It also gives guidance on preparing management Website: www.forestry.gov.uk plans. Garden History Society Tel: 020 7591 6000 E-mail: [email protected] The government appointed the Garden History Society Website: www.hlf.org.uk/English/ as the statutory consultee (in England) for parks and gardens. The society has produced a series of Planning Unitary Authorities Conservation Advice Notes available on the web. For information on sites within the unitary authorities of Garden History Society Portsmouth or Southampton contact the relevant local 70 Cowcross Street, authority or the Hampshire Gardens Trust. London EC1M 6EJ Tel: 020 7608 2409 E-mail: [email protected]

22 Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens C Askwith Rescued or Ruined? Dealing with Enabling Development (The Garden References History Society, The Georgian Group, The Ancient Monuments Society, The Victorian Society, The Association of Gardens Trusts, June 1999)

Krystyna Bilikowski Hampshire’s Countryside Heritage: Historic Parks and Gardens (Hampshire County Council, 1983)

Department of Culture, Media and Sport Heritage Protection for the 21st Century (March 2007)

Department of the Environment and Policy Guidance: Planning and the Historic Environment

Department of National Heritage Planning (PPG 15), (September 1994)

C Dingwall and D Lambert Historic Parks and Gardens in the Planning System (The Landscape Design Trust, 1997)

English Heritage The Register of Parks and Gardens – An introduction (November 1998)

English Heritage Farming the Historic Landscape – Caring for historic parkland (April 2005)

G Hedley and A Rance, editors Pleasure Grounds: Gardens and Landscapes of Hampshire (Milestone Publications, 1987)

G & S Jellicoe, P Goode and M Lancaster The Oxford Companion to Gardens (Oxford University Press, 1986)

D Lambert, P Goodchild and J Roberts Parks and Gardens: A researcher’s guide to sources for designed landscapes (Landscape Design Trust, 3rd edition, 2006)

Land Use Consultants Hampshire Urban Parks Study (January 1997)

Hampshire County Council Hampshire Register of Historic Parks and Gardens (June 2000)

Heritage Lottery Fund Conservation Plans for Historic Places (March 1998)

S Marcus and R Barker Using Historic Parks and Gardens (English Heritage, 1997)

Michael Symes A Glossary of Garden History (Shire Publications, 2006)

Anthea Taigel Historic Designed Landscapes: Planning and conservation guidance (Essex Gardens Trust, 2003)

Other publications on Hampshire’s historic environment Published by: • Historic Farm Buildings in Hampshire Landscape Planning and Heritage • Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas Group, Environment Department, • Historic Buildings: A guide to Owners Hampshire County Council. • Earth Structures (cob buildings and walls) September 2007. • The Conservation of Water Meadows Structures • Re-pointing, mortars and pointing of historic walls Design: Corporate Graphics Team, • Thatch in Hampshire Printed on recycled paper by You can get these publications from: Hampshire Printing Services. • the Archaeology and Historic Buildings Record (AHBR) e-mail: [email protected] • www3.hants.gov.uk/landscape-and-heritage/historic-environment/ historic-environment-publications.htm (downloadable as PDF files).

Hampshire’s Historic Parks and Gardens 23 If you would like a large print or audio version of this document please phone 0800 028 088 or text phone 0808 100 2484.